Max Knecht (Colonial Officer)
Max Knecht (born April 6, 1874 in Basel ; † March 31, 1954 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German colonial officer who shaped the Freiburg colonial movement of the 1920s and 30s. From 1936 he was leader of the Baden regional association in the Reich Warrior League and thus chairman of the then over one hundred thousand members.
Life
Max servant, the son of a professional officer and raised in Alsace, changed in 1905, after training as an officer in Halle (Saale) and service in the Fusilier Regiment "General-Field Marshal Count Blumenthal" (Magdeburgisches) no. 36, in the colonial service in Germany East Africa , where he served in the Imperial Protection Force until 1908 during the Maji-Maji uprising and other battles, and was awarded the Order of the Crown, IV Class with Swords. During the war in German East Africa he was jointly responsible for executions of locals.
He took part in the First World War until 1918, was wounded in the thigh and retired from active military service in 1920 as a lieutenant colonel .
Knecht was one of the National Liberal People's Party and was 1922-1934 councilor of the city of Freiburg .
From 1921 to 1939 he worked as a tax advisor . From 1925 to 1936 he was first chairman of the Upper Baden department of the German Colonial Society (DKG) based in Freiburg. Out of economic interests, these had the goal of promoting the most expansive colonial policy possible. Through public lectures, exhibitions on colonization and urban political propaganda, the conference of the Reich Colonial Association and the colonial exhibition in Freiburg was held in 1935 at his instigation . On July 1, 1936, Knecht received his appointment as leader of the Badischer Kriegerbund and soon afterwards as SS-Ehrenführer in the rank of SS-Standartenführer . In 1939 he was awarded the SS sword of honor by Heinrich Himmler .
At the beginning of the war in 1939 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and retired in 1943 at the age of 69 due to his age as a colonel . The ruling chamber of the Baden State Commissariat for political cleansing ( denazification ) classified Knecht in 1948 initially as a victim of murder . He was later classified only as a follower. Despite his NSDAP and SS membership, Knecht was apparently no supporter of anti-Semitism .
literature
- Heiko Wegmann: The colonial officer Max Knecht (1874–1954). From the “sole ruler on Lake Kiwu” to the pioneer of the colonial revisionist movement in Freiburg i. B. Africa in Sight, Zurich 2012, pp. 189–212.
- Heiko Wegmann: From the colonial war in German East Africa to the colonial movement in Freiburg. The officer and veteran leader of Baden, Max Knecht (1874–1954). Rombach-Verlag, Freiburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-7930-9943-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ State bibliography of Baden-Württemberg
- ^ Heiko Wegmann: Coconut palm with swastika The colonial movement in Freiburg during National Socialism. Information center 3rd world IZ3W, July 2009, accessed on July 3, 2019 .
- ↑ Rösser, Michael: Review of: H. Wegmann: From colonial war to colonial movement. Retrieved June 4, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Servant, Max |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German colonial officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 6, 1874 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Basel |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 31, 1954 |
| Place of death | Freiburg in Breisgau |